Bloomberg to Appeal Order to Release Cathie Black Emails

December 7, 2011

Just before Thanksgiving, Manhattan Judge Alice Schlesinger ruled that the Bloomberg administration turn over emails sent between the mayor and Cathie Black prior to Black’s short-lived appointment as New York City schools chancellor. (The fight for the emails had been instigated by Sergio Hernandez, former Village Voice intern, under the Freedom of Information law back in May of last year.) Hernandez had expected the release of the emails tomorrow — however, he tells us that the Bloomberg administration has decided to appeal and will not produce the information as expected.

Of course, it’s not unexpected that this would become a protracted legal battle — the mayor’s counsel had said they’d consider their legal options after the decision came down. They argue that the disclosure of the emails would be “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

Any information of an intensely personal nature could easily be redacted,” she added.

We’ve contacted Bloomberg’s counsel for confirmation on the appeal and will update when we hear back. In the meantime…doesn’t all this make you want to read Bloomberg and Cathie Black’s email correspondence that much more?

"More than any other contemporary African-American athlete, his ability to thrive in the pressure cooker of corporate America, while never making any embarrass­ing 'I’m not black, I’m universal' comments or selling his soul rather than just his visage, makes him a role model"

“Though his work for human rights is unassailable, the books grow worse and worse, the tales of his derring-do more and more farfetched. Finally, without at all forgiving him his lies, one feels sorry for Kosinski.”